Environmental Scientist. Writer. Mother.

Blog


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Five Year Mark

It’s been almost five years since my father disowned me. Last night was the first time I’d ever written those words together: My father disowned me. Dis-own, as in not-have. I used …

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On Writer’s Block: Notes from the Kitchen Island

People sometimes ask me, “How is your writing going?” “Fine, thanks,” I usually say, even when it isn’t. But I am a terrible liar, and lately I haven’t even been …

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The Things They Carried

When it happened again, I was teaching a creative writing workshop at the New England Young Writers’ Conference at the Bread Loaf campus in Ripton, Vermont — Baby Bread Loaf, …

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Notes from a Soft Target

When I was a very young child in Arizona, our house was robbed in the middle of the night while my parents were  fast asleep. The story is that my …

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On Advocacy and Love

A few weeks ago, I delivered a eulogy for my late Uncle Chuck. He died on a snowy morning in December, just a week-and-a-half before Christmas. I was holding his …

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2018 Moravian College Writers’ Conference

I am so pleased to share that I will again be a workshop presenter at the Moravian College Writers’ Conference, March 16-17, 2018. Please mark your calendars to join me and …

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Empathy

I was in New Jersey visiting family last weekend. We attended the 2017 Full Circle event at the Matheny Medical and Educational Center where my uncle lives, benefitting the facility’s …

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The Fact of a Penis

To the man who left a penis on the windshield of our van (an open letter): After the race and celebration, we returned to the van, and there it was: …

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Labor Day

A few months ago, my daughter’s friend was celebrating her birthday during a weekend soccer tournament. The girls all sang Happy Birthday to her after the last game of the …

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On Hiding

I am a self-conscious person. I am one of those people who hides behind her hair, because I have always been uncomfortable with people looking directly at my face. I …

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